By YANNI GU | November 22, 2020  

COURTESY OF GENEVIEVE BRIAND

After retrieving data on the CDC website, Briand compiled a graph representing percentages of total deaths per age category from early February to early September.

According to new data, the U.S. currently ranks first in total COVID-19 cases, new cases per day and deaths. Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the Applied Economics master’s degree program at Hopkins, critically analyzed the effect of COVID-19 on U.S. deaths using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in her webinar titled “COVID-19 Deaths: A Look at U.S. Data.”

From mid-March to mid-September, U.S. total deaths have reached 1.7 million, of which 200,000, or 12% of total deaths, are COVID-19-related. Instead of looking directly at COVID-19 deaths, Briand focused on total deaths per age group and per cause of death in the U.S. and used this information to shed light on the effects of COVID-19.

She explained that the significance of COVID-19 on U.S. deaths can be fully understood only through comparison to the number of total deaths in the United States. 

After retrieving data on the CDC website, Briand compiled a graph representing percentages of total deaths per age category from early February to early September, which includes the period from before COVID-19 was detected in the U.S. to after infection rates soared. 

Surprisingly, the deaths of older people stayed the same before and after COVID-19. Since COVID-19 mainly affects the elderly, experts expected an increase in the percentage of deaths in older age groups. However, this increase is not seen from the CDC data. In fact, the percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same. 

“The reason we have a higher number of reported COVID-19 deaths among older individuals than younger individuals is simply because every day in the U.S. older individuals die in higher numbers than younger individuals,” Briand said.

Briand also noted that 50,000 to 70,000 deaths are seen both before and after COVID-19, indicating that this number of deaths was normal long before COVID-19 emerged. Therefore, according to Briand, not only has COVID-19 had no effect on the percentage of deaths of older people, but it has also not increased the total number of deaths. 

These data analyses suggest that in contrast to most people’s assumptions, the number of deaths by COVID-19 is not alarming. In fact, it has relatively no effect on deaths in the United States.

This comes as a shock to many people. How is it that the data lie so far from our perception? 

To answer that question, Briand shifted her focus to the deaths per causes ranging from 2014 to 2020. There is a sudden increase in deaths in 2020 due to COVID-19. This is no surprise because COVID-19 emerged in the U.S. in early 2020, and thus COVID-19-related deaths increased drastically afterward.

Analysis of deaths per cause in 2018 revealed that the pattern of seasonal increase in the total number of deaths is a result of the rise in deaths by all causes, with the top three being heart disease, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia.

“This is true every year. Every year in the U.S. when we observe the seasonal ups and downs, we have an increase of deaths due to all causes,” Briand pointed out.

When Briand looked at the 2020 data during that seasonal period, COVID-19-related deaths exceeded deaths from heart diseases. This was highly unusual since heart disease has always prevailed as the leading cause of deaths. However, when taking a closer look at the death numbers, she noted something strange. As Briand compared the number of deaths per cause during that period in 2020 to 2018, she noticed that instead of the expected drastic increase across all causes, there was a significant decrease in deaths due to heart disease. Even more surprising, as seen in the graph below, this sudden decline in deaths is observed for all other causes. 

COURTESY OF GENEVIEVE BRIAND 

Graph depicts the number of deaths per cause during that period in 2020 to 2018.

This trend is completely contrary to the pattern observed in all previous years. Interestingly, as depicted in the table below, the total decrease in deaths by other causes almost exactly equals the increase in deaths by COVID-19. This suggests, according to Briand, that the COVID-19 death toll is misleading. Briand believes that deaths due to heart diseases, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia may instead be recategorized as being due to COVID-19. 

COURTESY OF GENEVIEVE BRIAND  

Graph depicts the total decrease in deaths by various causes, including COVID-19.  

The CDC classified all deaths that are related to COVID-19 simply as COVID-19 deaths. Even patients dying from other underlying diseases but are infected with COVID-19 count as COVID-19 deaths. This is likely the main explanation as to why COVID-19 deaths drastically increased while deaths by all other diseases experienced a significant decrease.

“All of this points to no evidence that COVID-19 created any excess deaths. Total death numbers are not above normal death numbers. We found no evidence to the contrary,” Briand concluded.

In an interview with The News-Letter, Briand addressed the question of whether COVID-19 deaths can be called misleading since the infection might have exacerbated and even led to deaths by other underlying diseases.

“If [the COVID-19 death toll] was not misleading at all, what we should have observed is an increased number of heart attacks and increased COVID-19 numbers. But a decreased number of heart attacks and all the other death causes doesn’t give us a choice but to point to some misclassification,” Briand replied.

In other words, the effect of COVID-19 on deaths in the U.S. is considered problematic only when it increases the total number of deaths or the true death burden by a significant amount in addition to the expected deaths by other causes. Since the crude number of total deaths by all causes before and after COVID-19 has stayed the same, one can hardly say, in Briand’s view, that COVID-19 deaths are concerning.

Briand also mentioned that more research and data are needed to truly decipher the effect of COVID-19 on deaths in the United States.

Throughout the talk, Briand constantly emphasized that although COVID-19 is a serious national and global problem, she also stressed that society should never lose focus of the bigger picture — death in general. 

The death of a loved one, from COVID-19 or from other causes, is always tragic, Briand explained. Each life is equally important and we should be reminded that even during a global pandemic we should not forget about the tragic loss of lives from other causes.

According to Briand, the over-exaggeration of the COVID-19 death number may be due to the constant emphasis on COVID-19-related deaths and the habitual overlooking of deaths by other natural causes in society. 

During an interview with The News-Letter after the event, Poorna Dharmasena, a master’s candidate in Applied Economics, expressed his opinion about Briand’s concluding remarks.

“At the end of the day, it’s still a deadly virus. And over-exaggeration or not, to a certain degree, is irrelevant,” Dharmasena said.

When asked whether the public should be informed about this exaggeration in death numbers, Dharmasena stated that people have a right to know the truth. However, COVID-19 should still continuously be treated as a deadly disease to safeguard the vulnerable population.

Tags: science-technology

All Rights Reserved© Copyright 2019 The Johns Hopkins News-Letter

NOTE: The same statistics are also true in Canada. No increase in normal deaths per year. Facts don't lie but sometimes the so called Experts DO. Covid 19 is the greatest Fraud and Hoax ever committed in the history of this world. You should ask yourself then. WHAT IS THE REAL MOTIVE??? And find an honest answer before they kill off a major percentage of the human population by destroying businesses, industries, food supplies and supply chains.

NOTE THAT 2018 DEATHS ARE HIGHER THAN 2020

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHATS REALLY HAPPENING

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FER ASCENDERS  BOOK FELLOWSHEP KALIRO 2020-11-30-Kasokwe Community  High School-Video-1606837867

Report From Kasokwe Community High School

This School Revelation Outreach program was organized by our leader Tumusime Roger a leader in FER ASCENDERS URANTIA BOOK FELLOWSHIP KALIRO School Revelation Outreach Program. This is one of our programs and new innovations.

This is the new school team where I have been invited by brother Rogers who is doing a credible work on behalf of the Father and FER ASCENDERS. We are at Kasokwe Community High School

Photo

In the photo are students together with the teachers, that photo was taken on the weekend and Roger sent these photos as his report.

VIDEO CLICK TO WATCH

SEE ALL PHOTOS

Pastor Meeting to Introduce the 5th Epochal Urantia Revelations.- 61 Pastors in Attendance 2020-11-28

We meet with 61 Pastors in Place is called Nawe, Buwagajjo - Buikwe District in Uganda, Africa. 

It took us three and a half hours to be there at the meeting in Nawe, Buwagajjo - Buikwe District in Uganda. Those in attendance both men and women were all Pastors.

I was reading the introductory part to the Part iv and they are all following me in their books and also I gave out 36 books today!

We even formed 10 reading groups among them who attended! And they told me each group will at least have 5 members to begin with.

They grouped themselves according to distances from each other. We had 61 pastors both women leaders and men leaders in their respective churches.

I thank God that we got what to feed all these people although it was not so easy, I had to lift up my faith as usual so that I got what to feed my people whom we sat with to have our introduction to the book for almost three hours.

These were all very much excited I tell you, some of them who do not know English very well, we're begging to be given the books so they go back with them to always ask their Children to read and translate to them!  Until we resolved that they should have groups to belong to.

At the meeting we agreed that I will be checking on them every month before I make my report, and they said for them they will be meeting at least twice a week as a group but for individuals will be reading daily, I mean those who will be staying with the books as group leaders

I was pointing out to them, they are carrying life with them now, that is what I was reminding them of, that they have a treasure not so common among all mankind.

In the above are the children of this area who do not go to school because of fees, and other scholastic materials, needing help as well as help in knowledge and leaning about Jesus

SEE ALL PHOTOS HERE

We have now more two more 70-90 Pastors meetings left for this year

Honestly, and surprisingly other countries are calling me , they want me to go and introduce the book to them so they can start reading them.

Books arrive in Uganda. Moses and Caroline make the pick up​. Some of this order was for Siloam Altar Revival Ministries International where 3 groups of 70 Pastors each have requested Moses to come and speak on the new revelations. As well as provide teaching material in the small village of Buseru were Caroline Plans to build Eternal Hope Gospel of Jesus Primary School and use these new revelations as the foundation of learning. You can contribute to his Campaign here.

Pastor Soren and his team provided the funds for the delivery team transporting books across western Uganda to meet along the way with team leaders in Uganda at the Jinja city Hotel. 

They were able to share stories and the good news about the revelation outreach activities in different parts of Uganda. 

Gumpi Andrew Cohen received three boxes of books to keep pace with a rapid expansion of FER ASCENDERS Fellowship. He is teaching the revelation to an increasing number of schools in Uganda. Any support you can give to Andrew in support of these efforts would be appreciated. They can be made on his Campaign

Thank you Soren and your team, the Pipeline of Life, Derek Samara and many others who worked to make this delivery possible. 

The team worked late into the night making deliveries. Last stop at New Life Africa Ministries Mother Church where Bishop Joseph Oyuki & Irene's books were dropped off. Joseph has been steadily introducing these new revelations to the many Pastors in his ministry. You can contribute to his work on his Campaign Here.

MORE IMAGES CAN BE FOUND HERE

THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS AND STAFF

For the last 3yrs the stuff and caregivers and volunteers under our umbrella treated these  children with love and respect, encouraging right behavior and correcting wrongful actions.
 

The caring relationships helped foster the desire to learn and to be good people in a difficult and challenging environment.
 

But covid has posed unique challenges to these care givers and some have decided to look for alternative forms of survival like street hawking.

I am just very thankful for their BIG HEARTS and much appreciation for their service.

My target is to teach the young generation about the Urantia book so by the end of 2025 most of the village is covered with the message of Urantia Book.

This is a new place and New group they are twenty one in Number, I met them on Tuesday 9 November 2020. The organization of meeting these people were made by the FER ASCENDERS BOOK FELLOWSHIP KALIRO coordinator Kasokwe sub county.

They were so impressed by the new Revelation and the unknown and I told them the story of Jesus Christ as it is presented in the revelation. 

As per the moment, I have 6 schools where I have been given/ permitted to introduce the New Revelation to the students who are so excited and impressed to receive the Urantia Book. I have now made a time table for these schools. Monday and Tuesday = Kaliro Senior Secondary School [ 50 students] morning and Bumanya Community High School [40 students] in the afternoon. Kasokwe community school= Wednesday [25students] morning and Cranes High School Busulumba [30 students] in the afternoon. Palisa High School= Thursday and Friday [80 students] morning and Palisa community academy [28 students] afternoon. FER ASCENDERS URANTIA BOOK FELLOWSHIP KALIRO community readers groups visits and supervision/ monitoring the progress of the UB readers groups in their communities. Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, is programmed to be my resting day and a day of worshiping and listening to the voice of the father.

Brothers and sisters, I will need more books with time as the number is starting to multiply again. Then, I decided to accept to teach these students the UB because of so many reasons but list a few, some parents were becoming hard nut to crack so by teaching their children the UB, the children have carried the UB message home, around the villages as they come from deferent parts of the region.

So as a result, some of these parents have started looking for me at my place and some call me to visit their own homes and families to tell them more about the UB. At the end of it all am getting more and more disciples.

Yesterday I was invited by the Bulangila Village chairperson who with his team wanted me to tell them about the UB that my wife is teaching some women in his village.

Brother Paul and sister Monica, myself I don't want to believe / think that this is all excitement but these are the results or effect of my teachings to the students in schools and to my colleagues in the profession. This is now a circle that I can not stop but to continue with and adjusting according to the growing and development of the God's Kingdom

A History of the Urantia Movement

By The Contact Commission on June 30, 1960

Several members of this group who participated in the preliminary “contacts” which led up to the appearance of the Urantia Papers, had had considerable experience in the investigation of psychic phenomena. This group early arrived at the conclusion that the phenomena connected with the personality, who was later associated with the Urantia Papers, was in no way similar to any other well-known type of psychic performance – such as hypnosis, automatic writing, clairvoyance, trances, spirit mediumship, telepathy, or double personality.

It should be made clear that the antecedents of the Urantia Papers were in no way associated with so-called spiritualism – with its seances and supposed communication with spirits of departed human beings.

Contact Activities Preceding the Urantia Papers

It would seem that, during these early years, our unseen friends were engaged in a thoroughgoing testing of the contact personality, rehearsing the technique of communication, selecting the Contact Commissioners — in fact, in a general way — setting the stage for the subsequent initiation of the presentation of the “Urantia Papers.”

During these early years we were introduced to many new and, to us, somewhat strange concepts of the universe of universes and as concerned man and his life on earth.

Among these numerous new ideas of cosmology and philosophy, the following may be mentioned:

1. New concept of a far-flung cosmos
2. Millions of other inhabited planets
3. Introduction to scores of different and varied echelons of celestial personalities.
4. Confirmation of evolutionary origin of humankind — even of an evolutionary cosmos.
5. Intimation of multiple Creator Deities.
6. Tentative testing of our theologic concepts. Patient determination of how far we might possibly go in the direction of modifying our theologic beliefs and philosophical opinions.
7. Without realizing it, over a period of twenty years, our fundamental religious views and attitudes had been considerably changed.
8. We had been familiarized with such terms as “The First Source and Center”, “Havona”, “superuniverses”, and the “Supreme Being” — but we had but meager ideas as to the real meaning of these names.
9. We also heard such words as “Master Spirits”, “outer space”, and “Power Directors”. But, again, we understood little as to their meaning. We also learned about numerous orders of angels.
10. We heard about “Thought Adjusters”, but our concept of the meaning of the term was vague and indefinite.
11. We had acquired a fuzzy concept of the morontia level of existence — but we never heard the word “morontia” used until the Papers started.
12. The midwayers were very real to us — we frequently talked with them during our varied “contacts.” We quite fully understood that the secondary midwayers supervised the contacts.
13. We heard some things about the Lucifer rebellion, but got little information about Adam and Eve.
14. We gained the impression that there were special reasons for Jesus’ bestowal on Urantia, but we had little or no idea as to the nature of these unrevealed reasons.
15. We listened to occasional references to Jesus’ life and teachings — but they were very cautious about the introduction of any new concepts regarding Michael’s Urantia bestowal. Of all the Urantia Revelation the Jesus Papers were the biggest surprise.
16. While we did not hear the term “Corps of The Finality”, we did pick up a hazy idea that Paradise might be the destination of surviving mortals.

Our superhuman friends thus spent upward of two decades in extending our cosmic horizons, enlarging our theologic concepts, and expanding our over-all philosophy.

We never realized how much our religious thinking had been expanded until the Papers began to arrive. As the Revelation progressed we came more fully to appreciate how we had been prepared for the vast alteration of our religious beliefs by these preliminary contacts extending over a period of twenty years of pre-education.

Our apprenticeship training for subsequent service in association with the presentation of the Urantia Papers was facilitated by the fact that, except for contacts with the midwayers, no two contacts were alike. Seldom did we meet the visiting personalities more than once. Every contact was entirely different from any and all that had gone before. And all of this experience was an extensive and liberal preparatory educational training in the expansion of our cosmology, theology and philosophy — not to mention our introduction to new ideas and concepts concerning a vast array of more mundane objects.

The limited discussion of Jesus’ life and teachings during these pre-revelatory contacts might be explained by the fact that the midwayers were a bit dubious as to how much authority they had in such matters — as shown later on when a whole year was consumed in the clarification of their right to retell the story of the Michael bestowal.

Those of us who early attended upon these nocturnal vigils never suspected that we were in contact with anything supernatural.

During these early years, all of our observations and investigations utterly failed to reveal the technique of reducing messages to writing.

How the Urantia Papers Started

After about twenty years of contact experience, an alleged student visitor, speaking through this sleeping subject during one of these nocturnal vigils, in answer to one of our questions, said: “If you only knew what you are in contact with you would not ask such trivial questions. You would rather ask such questions as might elicit answers of supreme value to the human race.”

This was something of a shock, as well as a mild rebuke, and caused all of us to look upon this unique experience in a new and different way. Later on that night, one of our number said: “Now they have asked for it — let us give them questions that no human being can answer.”

Now it is best to let matters rest here while we shift this narrative to a new and different setting.

How the Forum Started

Dr. William S. Sadler, a member of this early group of observers and investigators, tells the following story regarding the origin of that group of interested individuals which later on became known as the “Forum.” He says: “On my way to the University of Kansas to deliver some lectures on Gestalt psychology, I wrote a letter to my son saying that I thought doctors should try to maintain some contact with their old patients. I suggested that he talk with his mother about the feasibility of inviting some of our old friends to meet with us on Sunday afternoons for an hour or two of informal discussion and social exchange.

When I returned to Chicago one Sunday morning I found that my wife had invited a group of our old patients to meet at our house that afternoon at three o’clock. It was the plan to conduct these Sunday afternoon gatherings somewhat as follows: First have a talk on some health topic — such as the treatment of common colds, the cause and cure of worry, and then, after a cup of tea, engage in informal discussions — asking and answering questions.

As time passed, this group became a cosmopolitan gathering consisting of professional men and women — doctors, lawyers, dentists, ministers, teachers — together with individuals from all walks of life. Farmers, housewives, secretaries, office workers, and common laborers.

Introduction of the Forum to the “Contacts”

Presently, I was asked to give a series of talks on “Mental Hygiene,” or “Psychic Phenomena.” At the beginning of my first talk, I said: “With only or two exceptions, all of the psychic phenomena which I have investigated have turned out to be either conscious or unconscious frauds. Some were deliberate frauds — others were those peculiar cases in which the performer was a victim of the deceptions of his own subconscious mind.”

I had no more than said this when one of the group spoke up, saying, “Doctor, if you have contacted something which you have been unable to solve — it would be interesting — tell us more about it.”

I asked Dr. Lena to get some notes she had taken at a recent “contact” and read them to the group. It should be understood that up to this time there was no secrecy connected with this case. The Urantia Papers had not begun to appear.

It was at about this time that this group meeting at our house on Sunday afternoons began to be called the “Forum.”

The group manifested such a great interest in this case that I never did get around to giving any of the health talks such as had been planned.

It was while these informal discussions were going on from week to week that the challenge came to us suggesting that if we would ask more serious questions we might get information of value to all mankind.

The Forum Begins to Ask Questions

We told the Forum all about this and invited them to join us in the preparation of question. We decided to start out with questions pertaining to the origin of the cosmos, Deity, creation, and such other subjects as were far beyond the present-day knowledge of all humankind.

The following Sunday several hundred questions were brought in. We sorted out these questions, discarding duplicates, and in a general way, classifying them. Shortly thereafter, the first Urantia Paper appeared in answer to these questions. From first to last, when the Papers appeared, the questions disappeared.

This was the procedure followed throughout the many years of the reception of the Urantia Papers. No questions — no Papers.

The Forum Becomes a Closed Group

About this time, the Forum, as it were, was taken away from us. We were instructed to form a “closed group” — requiring each member to sign a pledge of secrecy and to discuss the Papers and all matters pertaining thereto with only those persons who were members of the Forum.

Membership tickets were issued and the Charter membership numbered Thirty. The date of this organization was September, 1925. Seventeen of these Charter Members are still living.

The individuals charged with the responsibility of gathering up the questions and comparing the typewritten text with the original handwritten manuscript, came to be known as the “Contact Commissioners.” From that date forward only these Contact Commissioners attended “contacts” and received written communications through the contact personality.

From time to time new members were received into the Forum, after being interviewed by the officers and after signing the same pledge that was signed by the original Charter Members. This pledge read: “We acknowledge our pledge of secrecy, renewing our promise not to discuss the Urantia Revelations or their subject matter with any one save active Forum members, and to take no notes of such matter as is read or discussed at the public sessions, or make copies or notes of what we personally read.”

The last meeting of the Forum as a genetic assembly was held on May 31st, 1942. During the 17 years of official existence the Forum attained a total membership of 486.

During the period of the reception of the Urantia Papers, upward of 300 different persons participated in asking these genetic questions. With but few exceptions, all of the Urantia Papers were given in response to such questions.

How We Got the Urantia Papers

Just about all that is known or could be told about the origin of the Urantia Papers is to be found, here and there, in The Urantia Book. A list of such references is to be found on the back of the dust jacket of the Book.

Let us take a brief look at these citations

1. Page 1, par. 2. This passage refers to the difficulty of presenting expanded spiritual concepts when restricted to circumscribed human language, such as English.
2. Page 1, par. 4. An Orvonton Commission participated in the revelation and prepared this Foreword.
3. Page 17, par. 1. In presenting this revelation of augmented spiritual values and universe meanings, more than one thousand human concepts were drawn from the minds of human beings of the present and the past.
4. Page 16, par.8 & Page 1343, par. 1. In all revelation of truth, preference is given to the highest existing human concepts of ideality and reality. Only in the absence of the human concept is superhuman knowledge revealed.
5. Page 1109, par. 4. Revelators are seldom at liberty to anticipate scientific discoveries. Truth is timeless, but the teachings respecting the physical sciences and certain phases of cosmology will become partially obsolescent as a result of the new discoveries of advancing scientific investigations. The cosmology of the Urantia Revelation is not inspired. Human wisdom must evolve.
6. Page 215, par. 2-9 Human pedagogy proceeds from the simple to the complex. The Urantia Revelation begins with the more complex and goes on to the consideration of the more simple. Instead of beginning with man reaching up for God, the Urantia Papers begin with God — reaching down and finding man.
7. Page 865. par. 6, 7 The narrative of the midwayers function in initiating and carrying forward to completion the Urantia Revelation.
8. Page 865, par. 2, & Page 1208, par. 7. Midway creatures are always employed in the phenomenon of communication with material beings through the technique of “Contact Personalities.” The “subject” through whom the Urantia Papers were bestowed had a highly experienced Thought Adjuster. The “subject’s” relative indifference and unconcern regarding the work of his indwelling Adjuster was in every way favorable to the execution and completion of this revelatory project.
9. Page 1256, par. 1. The contact personality was a member of the Urantia Reserve Corps of Destiny. This was just one of several conditions favoring the impartation of the Urantia Revelation.
10. Page 1008, par. 3. The Urantia Revelation is unique in that it is presented by multiple authors. The Urantia Revelation, like its predecessors, is not inspired.
11. Page 32, par.2. A Divine Counselor “portrays the reality and nature of the Father with unchallengeable authority.”
12. Page 17, par. 2. The Revelators depend upon the indwelling Adjusters and the Spirit of Truth to help us in the appropriation of the truth in the Urantia Revelation.
13. Page 1007, par. 1. Revelation keeps in touch with evolution. Revelation is adapted to the age of its bestowal. New revelation maintains contact with preceding revelations.

How We Did Not Get The Urantia Book

Recently, a group of ministers from northern Indiana, who were engaged in studying The Urantia Book, spent the day with us and, during the evening, Dr. Sadler led a discussion on “How We Did Not Get The Urantia Book.”

The following is a gist of that presentation:

Several members of this group who participated in the preliminary “contacts” which led up to the appearance of the Urantia Papers had considerable experience in the investigation of psychic phenomena. This group early arrived at the conclusion that the phenomena connected with the personality who was later associated with the Urantia Papers, was in no way similar to any other well-known type of psychic performance — such as hypnotism, automatic writing, clairvoyance, trances, spirit mediumship, telepathy, or double personality.

It should be made clear that the antecedents of the Urantia Papers were in no way associated with so-called spiritualism — with its seances and supposed communication with the spirits of departed human beings.

Psychic Phenomena: Unusual Activities of the Marginal Consciousness

The Subconscious Mind

1. Automatic Writing
2. Automatic Talking
a. Speaking in “Tongues”
b. Trance Mediums
c. Spirit Mediums
d. Catalepsy

3. Automatic Hearing – Clairaudience
a. Hearing “Voices”

4. Automatic Seeing
a. Dream States – Twilight Mentation
b. Visions – Automatic Dramatization
c. Hallucinations (Shifty “Reality” Feelings)

5. Automatic Thinking
a. Automatic Fearing — Anxiety Neurosis
b. Automatic Ideation – Mental Compulsions
c. Automatic Judgements – Intuition, “Hunches”
d. Automatic Association of Ideas – Premonitions
e. Automatic Guessing – E.S.P. – Extra-Sensory Perception
f. Automatic Deductions – Delusions – Dreams and Hypnosis

6. Automatic Remembering
a. Clairvoyance – Automatic Memory Associations
b. Telepathy – Mind Reading (?)
c. Fortune Telling (Largely Fraudulent)
d. Musical and Mathematical Marvels

7. Automatic Acting
a. Automatic Behavior – (Major Hysteria, Witchcraft.)
b. Automatic Motion – Motor Compulsions
c. Automatic Overdrives – Manic Episodes
d. Automatic Walking – somnambulism

8. Automatic Personalization
a. Automatic Forgetting – Amnesia
b. Automatic Dissociation – Double and Multiple Personality
c. Schizophrenia – Split Personality

9. Combined and Associated Psychic States

Note: The technique of the reception of The Urantia Book in English in no way parallels or impinges upon any of the above phenomena of the marginal consciousness.

Reason for Silence Respecting Details
of the Origin of The Urantia Book

Among the several reasons given us at the time we were requested not to discuss the details of our personal experiences associated with the origin of The Urantia Book, the two major reasons were the following:

1. Unknown Features. There is much connected with the appearance of the Urantia Papers which no human being fully understands. None of us really knows just how this phenomenon was executed. There are numerous missing links in our understanding of how this revelation came to appear in written English.If any one of us should tell any one all he really knows about the technique and methods employed throughout the years of our getting this Revelation, such a narration would satisfy no one — there are too many missing links.
2. The main reason for not revealing the identity of the “Contact Personality” is that the Celestial Revelators do not want any human being — any human name — ever to be associated with The Urantia Book. They want this revelation to stand on its own declarations and teachings.

They are determined that future generations shall have the book wholly free from all mortal connections — they do not want a Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Luther, Calvin or Wesley. The book does not even bear the imprint of the printer who brought the book into being.

Remember: You could appreciate a good poem — even if you did not know the author. Likewise, you could enjoy a symphony even if you were ignorant of the composer.

The First Urantia Papers

The first group of Papers numbered 57. We then received a communication suggesting that since we could now ask many and much more intelligent questions, the supervising agencies and personalities responsible for transmitting the 57 Papers would engage to enlarge the revelation and to expand the Papers in accordance with our new questions.

This was the plan: We would read a Paper on a Sunday afternoon and the following Sunday the new questions would be presented. Again, these would be sorted, classified, etc. This program covered several years and ultimately resulted in the presentation of the 196 Papers as now found in The Urantia Book.

Receiving the Completed Papers

In a way, there was a third presentation. After receiving these 196 Papers, we were told that the “Revelatory Commission” would be pleased to have us go over the Papers once more and ask questions concerning the “Clarification of Concepts” and the “Removal of Ambiguities.” This program again covered several years. During this period very little new information was imparted. Only minor changes were made in any of the Papers. Some matter was added — some removed — but there was little revision or amplification of the text.

What has just been recorded refers more particularly to Parts I, II, and III of The Urantia Book. Part IV — The Jesus Papers — had a little different origin. They were produced by a midwayer commission and were completed one year later than the other Papers. The first three parts were completed and certified to us in A.D. 1934. The Jesus Papers were not so delivered to us until 1935.

The Delay in Receiving the Jesus Papers

The delay of one year in the reception of the Jesus Papers — Part IV of The Urantia Book — may be explained as follows: The midwayers were a bit apprehensive about becoming involved in the suit pending in the Universe courts — Gabriel vs. Lucifer — and they hesitated to complete their project until they were assured that they had full authority to retell the story of Jesus’ life on earth.

After some months waiting there came the mandate from Uversa directing the United Midwayers of Urantia to proceed with their project of revealing the story of the life and teaching of Michael when incarnated on Urantia, and not only assuring them that they were not in “contempt” of the Uversa courts, but instead granting them a mandate to do this service and admonishing any and all persons connected therewith to refrain from interfering with, or in any way hindering, the execution of such an undertaking.

And this is the explanation of why the Jesus Papers appear one year after the other Papers had been completed.

Functioning of the Contact Commissioners

During these early years the Contact Commissioners received many communications and directives in writing. Almost all of these messages had annotation at the bottom of the last page which read: “To be destroyed by fire not later than the appearance of the Urantia Papers in print.” It was the design of our unseen friends to prevent the appearance of an “Urantia Apocrypha” subsequent to the publication of The Urantia Book.

All of this was encouraging to us in that it assured us that the Urantia Papers would some time be published. It sustained our hopes through the long waiting years of delay.

The fact that no provision was ever made for replacing members of the Contact Commission who might be lost through disability or death, also led us to entertain the belief that the Book would be published during the lifetime of some of us.

The Commissioners were the custodians of the Urantia manuscript, keeping the carbon copy of the typewritten transcript in a fireproof vault. they were also charged with full responsibility for supervising all the details connected with the publication of the Book, securing the international copyrights, etc.

We were enjoined to refrain from discussing the identity of the Contact Personality and, after the publication of the Book, to make any statement at any time as to whether the “subject” was still living or was deceased.

The Seventy

In 1939, some of us thought the time had come when we should form a class to engage in the more serious and systematic study of the Urantia Papers. This project was presented to the Forum and when those who wished to join such a group were counted, it was found that just 70 persons desired to enter upon this study. So for several years this class was referred to as “The Seventy.” Two or three years preceding the formation of The Seventy an informal group had been meeting on Wednesday evenings.

The Seventy carried on systematic study of the Urantia Papers from April 3, 1939 to the summer of 1956, and was the forerunner of the later “School of the Urantia Brotherhood.”

During these years the Seventy enrolled 107 students.

The Seventy carried on its work of study, thesis writing, and practice of teaching for 17 years. During this period eight written communications were given to the Seventy by the Seraphim of Progress attached to the superhuman Planetary Government of Urantia.

The Publication Mandate

At long last, permission to publish the Urantia Papers was granted. The Introduction to this mandate reads:

“We regard The Urantia Book as a feature of the progressive evolution of human society. It is not germane to the spectacular episode of epochal revolution, even though it may apparently be timed to appear in the wake of one such revolution in human society. The Book belongs to the era immediately to follow the conclusion of the present ideological struggle. That will be the day when men will be willing to seek truth and righteousness. When the chaos of the present confusion has passed, it will be more readily possible to formulate the cosmos of a new and improved era of human relationships. And it is for this better order of affairs on earth that the book has been made ready.

“But the publication of the book has not been postponed to that (possibly) somewhat remote date. An early publication of the book has been provided so that it may be in hand for the training of leaders and teachers. Its presence is also required to engage the attention of persons of means who may be thus led to provide funds for translation into other languages.”

Upon receipt of these instructions, the Contact Commissioners entered upon the task of publishing The Urantia Book and preparation of plans for its distribution.

The Papers were published just as we received them. The Contact Commissioners had no editorial authority. Our job was limited to “spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.”

Before the demise of Dr. Lena K. Sadler in August, 1939 she had collected about twenty thousand dollars for the publication fund, and this was used to set type and prepare plates for the printing of the book.

The Urantia Foundation

It was these plates of The Urantia Book which constituted the basis for the formation of the Urantia Foundation. This Foundation, set up under the laws of Illinois, was completed on January 11, 1950. The first Board of Trustees were:

William M. Hales, President
William S. Sadler, Jr., Vice President
Emma L. Christensen, Secretary
Wilfred C. Kellogg, Treasurer
Edith Cook, Assistant Secretary

It was learned that one of the wealthy members of the Forum desired to contribute fifty thousand dollars for the publication of the Book. By instruction, this was circumvented, because, they told us, it was best to give all parties concerned an opportunity to contribute to the publication fund.

Accordingly, an appeal was made for $50,000.00 to defray the expense of printing ten thousand copies. The response was immediate. The sum contributed was in excess of forty-nine thousand dollars. The first money to reach the Foundation office was one thousand dollars from the late Sir Hubert Wilkins, the arctic explorer.

The Book was published under international copyright October 12, 1955.

The Urantia Brotherhood

It was inevitable that some sort of fraternal organization would grow out of the teachings of The Urantia Book. All interested persons could see that the Urantia teachings were opposed to the sectarianism of Christian believers. It was clear that it was not the purpose of the Urantia Revelation to start a new church.

Accordingly, on January 2, 1955, a group of persons who believed the teachings of the Book and who were interested in their proclamation, assembled in Chicago and completed the organization of the Urantia Brotherhood, a voluntary and fraternal organization of Urantia believers. This group composed the charter membership of the Urantia Brotherhood, and were 36 in number.

A Constitution and By-laws were adopted, and since that date numerous Societies have been formed throughout the United States.

When ten or more persons who are familiar with, and believe in, the teachings of The Urantia Book so desire they may be chartered as a Urantia Society. Membership in any church or fraternal organization does not interfere with becoming a member of a Urantia Society.

The original organizers of the Brotherhood and their successors were to direct the organization for the first nine years. Thereafter, the Brotherhood would be ordered by the action of the Triennial Delegate Assembly composed of delegates from the various Urantia Societies.

The departmental Committees of the Brotherhood are:

• Judicial Committee
• Charter Committee
• Fraternal Relations Committee
• Domestic Extension Committee
• Foreign Extension Committee
• Committee on Education
• Publication Committee
• Finance Committee
• Committee on Miscellaneous Activities

The Chairmen of the Committees, together with the Brotherhood officers, constitute the Executive Committee of the Brotherhood.

The over-all purpose of the Brotherhood is well expressed in the Preamble to the Constitution.

Preamble

“Inasmuch as it is our most solemn conviction that the comfort, happiness, and well-being of man will be enhanced by the creation of an organization devoted to the purposes hereinafter expressed may best be accomplished through the mutual assistance and association of a body of people working together for a common cause, we do hereby unite together as a voluntary association and fellowship under the name of Urantia Brotherhood, and we do hereby adopt and establish this constitution of Urantia Brotherhood.”

The original 36 Founders became the General Council which was designed to govern the Brotherhood for its first nine years.

The First Urantia Society of Chicago was organized and granted Charter No. 1 on June 17, 1956. The Society had 34 charter Members. The present membership of the First Society is 142.

Activities of Urantia Brotherhood

In co-operation with the Urantia Foundation, the Brotherhood is just now interested in the completion of the Index to The Urantia Book in reality, a concordance. Its publication is hoped for in 1961.

We are all interested in the progress of a French translation, which is in final review and may be published late in 1961.

The Brotherhood recently completed the formulation of a Funeral Service consisting of Scriptural passages and appropriate selections from The Urantia Book.

The Brotherhood sponsors a Quarterly News Letter which the Executive Committee sends to all Urantia Societies and other interested persons.

The Brotherhood posters many study groups scattered throughout the United States and in foreign countries. Eventually, most of these study groups will develop into Urantia Societies.

During the last year, two Field Representatives have been appointed to foster the individual Urantia Societies and pay them visits periodically.

In December 1959, the Internal Revenue Bureau of the United States government ruled that the Urantia Foundation, the Urantia Brotherhood, and the Urantia Brotherhood Corporation were exempt from paying income taxes, and that any and all contributions made to these organizations are deductible from the income taxes of such donors.

The Van Award, Section three of Article Thirteen of the Constitution of the Urantia Brotherhood reads: “If the opinion of the Executive Committee, any member of Urantia Brotherhood shall perform or render some unusual, extraordinary, or distinguished service, the Executive Committee shall present to the General Council the name of such member with the recommendation that a suitable award or citation in recognition thereof be given. Upon the presentation of such recommendation, the General Council, unanimous vote of all Councilors present at any duly constituted meeting, may give or confer on such member such award or citation in recognition of the unusual, extraordinary, or distinguished service of such member as the General Council may deem fitting and appropriate.”

On January 25, 1959, the first award under this Constitutional provision was made to the President of the Urantia Brotherhood School.

The reason for demonstrating this The Van Award is recited in the declaration of the award, and reads as follows:

“The spiritual insight and moral steadfastness which enabled Van to maintain such an unshakable attitude of loyalty to the universe government was the product of clear thinking, wise reasoning, logical judgement, sincere motivation, unselfish purpose, intelligent loyalty, experiential memory, disciplined character, and the unquestioning dedication of his personality to the doing of the will of the Father in Paradise.”

The conclusion of the award says: “In honor of his many years of devoted and distinguished service in behalf of the Urantia movement.”

Distribution of The Urantia Book

At the time of the publication of The Urantia Book we were given many suggestions respecting the methods we should employ in the work of its distribution. These instructions may be summarized as follows:

1. Study the methods employed by Jesus in introducing his work on earth. Note how quietly he worked at first – so often after even a miracle, he would admonish the recipient of his ministry, saying: “Tell no man what has happened to you.”
2. We were advised to avoid all efforts to achieve early and spectacular recognition.
3. During the first five years, these methods have been adhered to. The distribution increases yearly. At present, more than fifty book stores, from coast to coast, carry the Book.

The vast majority of the Brotherhood have concurred in this sort of quiet and gradual presentation of the Book. Only a few individuals have exhibited some restlessness and craving for aggressive plans for increased distribution.

One thing should be made clear: Nothing is done to interfere with the energetic and enthusiastic efforts of any individuals to introduce The Urantia Book to his varied contacts and human associations.

Read more about History of Urantia Movement, William Sadler Sr..

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PAGE 3 OF 3

13. Masks collect and colonize viruses, bacteria, and mold.

​   

In Germany, where schools are open and masks are mostly optional, the association of "Kinder f.Weltfrieden eV" commissioned a laboratory analysis to investigate the level of microbial contamination that results after a fresh mask is worn by a child for 6-8 hours in school. What they found was alarming to all those recommending we mask our children for several hours every day. The masks were found to be contaminated with 82 bacterial colonies and 4 mold colonies. Where do you think the bacteria, molds, and viruses progressively colonizing and growing on the warm moist mask-mouth interface end up?

Many of the microbes get transferred to surfaces the child (or adult) touches after they touch, fiddle, and mishandle their mask. This is one of the many reasons that masks are almost certainly INCREASING the transmission of infectious disease. More dangerously, these microbes are being inhaled and delivered deep into the lungs where respiratory disease far worse than CoVID-19 can result.

The oxygen lowering effects of masks forces the body to compensate by increasing heart rate and deepening inspirations (increasing tidal volumes). Increased tidal volumes drives the mask pathogens deep into the lungs where they can cause serious pneumonia, inflammation, and tissue damage.

Furthermore, these risks are compounded by the immune suppression (CD4+ T-cell suppression) that results from diminished arterial oxygenation. Thus, the mask-wearing child is at imminent risk for harm caused by lung infections that are far more dangerous than a CoVID-19 infection.

In fact, based on reports from my colleagues in emergency medicine, pulmonology, and infectious disease, an alarming explosion in bacterial pneumonias is being reported at ERs and urgent care centers across the country.

Evidence that supports the points above:

• Zhiqing, Liu, Chang Yongyun, Chu Wenxiang, Yan Mengning, Mao Yuanqing, Zhu Zhenan, Wu Haishan, et al. 2018. “Surgical Masks as Source of Bacterial Contamination during Operative Procedures.” Journal of Orthopaedic Translation 14 (July): 57–62.

  • This study investigated whether surgical masks (SMs) could be a potential source of bacterial shedding leading to an increased risk of surgical site infection.
  • Results: The longer the operating time the more bacterial colonization occurred. A significant increase [in bacterial counts] was noted in the 2-hour group.

• Colleen Huber, NMD, “Masks Are Neither Effective nor Safe,” PrimaryDoctor.Org, July 6, 2020. https://www.primarydoctor.org/masks-not-effect

  • “The foregoing data show that masks serve more as instruments of obstruction of normal breathing, rather than as effective barriers to pathogens. Therefore, masks should not be used by the general public, either by adults or children, and their limitations as prophylaxis against pathogens should also be considered in medical settings.”
  • Dr. Huber’s article cites 42 supporting scientific studies.

• “Dr. Jenny Harries, England's deputy chief medical officer, has warned that it was not a good idea for the public to wear face masks as the virus can get trapped in the material and causes infection when the wearer breathes in.”

  • Angela Betsaida B. Laguipo, BSN, “Reusing Masks May Increase Your Risk of Coronavirus Infection, Expert Says,” News, Medical, Life Sciences, March 15, 2020. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200315/Reusing-masks-may-increase-your-risk-of-coronavirus-infection-expert-says.aspx
• See also, Melkorka Licea, “Mask Mouth” Is a Seriously Stinky Side Effect of Wearing Masks. New York Post, August 5, 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/08/05/mask-mouth-is-a-seriously-stinky-side-effect-of-wearing-masks/
• Consider this: Health department investigating after high number of strep throat cases reported at Shepherd schools.
  
  The Central Michigan District Health Department is investigating after more than a dozen cases of strep throat were reported within Shepherd Public Schools despite COVID-19 protocols.

14. Wearing a face mask makes the exhaled air (respiratory plumes) go into the eyes.

• Masks may capture respiratory jets and large respiratory droplets, but they cannot prevent the respiratory plumes composed of aerosolizable respiratory droplet nuclei to escape the top, bottom, and sides of the masks.
• The respiratory plume wafts into the eyes and generates an uncomfortable feeling and compulsion to touch and rub the eyes. If your hands are contaminated and you touch or rub your eyes, you are transmitting and infecting yourself through the ocular mucosa.[R]

15. Contact tracing studies show that asymptomatic carrier transmission is very rare.

• Asymptomatic carriers are not a major driver of the disease.[R]
• Therefore, one of the key reasons the public was told to wear masks, asymptomatic spreaders, should not be used as a reason for community wearing of masks.

16. Face masks and stay at home orders prevent the development of herd immunity.

• Only herd immunity can prevent pandemics; it is the only thing that ever has.
• Only herd immunity will protect the vulnerable members of society.
• Sweden’s example continues to prove this point.

17. Face masks are dangerous and contraindicated for a large number of people with pre-existing medical conditions and disabilities.

• Large percentages of the population have medical conditions that make wearing a mask dangerous. Individuals should be examined by a medical professional to ensure that mask wear will not further compromise their medical condition.

  • Children with asthma (7.5% of American children) and other respiratory disabilities are being harmed by mask mandates, they are being discriminated against by businesses, schools, and public spaces that require masks.
  • Children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders are extremely prone to agitation and severe anxiety that results from the adverse effects, e.g., oxygen lowering effects, of masks.
  • An ever increasing number of children and young adults with autism are sensitive to touch and texture.[R] Covering the nose and mouth with fabric can cause sensory overload, feelings of panic, and extreme anxiety.
• If a person with a disability is not able to wear a face mask, state and local government agencies and private businesses must consider reasonable modifications to a face mask policy so that the person with the disability can participate in, or benefit from, the programs offered or goods and services that are provided. A reasonable modification means changing policies, practices, and procedures, if needed, to provide goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to an individual with a disability.
• Examples of a person with a disability who might not be able to wear a face mask include individuals with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or other respiratory disabilities may not be able to wear a face mask because of difficulty in or impaired breathing. People with respiratory disabilities should consult their own medical professional for advice about using face masks.
• The CDC also states that anyone who has trouble breathing should not wear a face mask.[R]
• People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe anxiety, or claustrophobia (an abnormal fear of being in enclosed or narrow places), may feel afraid or terrified when wearing a face mask. These individuals may not be able to stay calm or function when wearing a face mask.
• A person who has cerebral palsy may have difficulty moving the small muscles in the hands, wrists, or fingers. Due to their limited mobility, they may not be able to tie the strings or put the elastic loops of a face mask over the ears. This means that the individual may not be able to put on or remove a face mask without assistance.
• A person who uses mouth control devices such as a sip and puff to operate a wheelchair or assistive technology, or uses their mouth or tongue to use assistive ventilators will be unable to wear a mask.

Masking School Children is Ineffective, Unnecessary, and Harmful

Face masks are not only ineffective, they are more dangerous than parents are being told. Scientific study after scientific study over the course of many years have concluded that wearing face masks for extended periods of time puts the wearer, especially children, in imminent risk of physical and psychological harms.

If the previous section (“Masks are Harmful”) did not serve to make you question much of what you have heard about the risks of medical masks, let us now examine what the science and experts say about masking children.

Mandatory masks in school are a ‘major threat’ to children’s development, doctors warn

Wednesday, 09 September 2020

The face mask requirement at school is bad for children’s general well-being and should be abolished, 70 doctors wrote in an open letter to Flemish Education Minister Ben Weyts.

The doctors want [Flemish Education Minister] Weyts to immediately reverse his approach: no face mask requirement at school, only protect the at-risk group and only advise people with a possible risk profile to consult their doctor.

“In recent months, the general well-being of children and young people has come under severe pressure,” the letter’s authors said. “We see in our practices an increasing number of children and young people with complaints due to the rules of conduct that have been imposed on them.”

The doctors mentioned anxiety and sleep problems as well as behavioural disorders and germaphobia, which is a pathological fear of germs. They are also seeing an increase in domestic violence, isolation and deprivation.

“Mandatory face masks in schools are a major threat to their development. It ignores the essential needs of the growing child. The well-being of children and young people is highly dependent on emotional attachment to others,” they wrote.

According to them, “the face mask requirement makes school a threatening and unsafe environment, where emotional closeness becomes difficult.”

Moreover, “there is no large-scale evidence that wearing face masks in a non-professional environment has any positive effect on the spread of viruses, let alone on general health. Nor is there any legal basis for implementing this requirement.”

“Meanwhile, it is clear that healthy children living through Covid-19 heal without complications as standard and that they subsequently contribute to the protection of their fellow human beings by increasing group immunity”.

“The only sensible measure to prevent serious illness and mortality caused by Covid-19 is to isolate individual teachers and individual children at increased risk,” they said.

“This risk assessment is not the task of the Ministry of Education,” the doctors underlined, “but the task of the treating physicians in consultation with their patients.”

- From The Brussels Times

The Great Barrington Declaration

A letter authored by 3 top epidemiologists and professors on October 4 th, 2020, has, as of 6:00 pm, October 9th, 2020, been signed by 4,051 Medical & Public Health Scientists and 7,247 Medical Practitioners. This is a portion of their consensus declaration:

"As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.”

Thus, "The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this Focused Protection."

Read the letter in full: https://gbdeclaration.org/

Forcing Children to Wear Face Masks is Unnecessary

Forcing children to wear face masks in school is ineffective, harmful, and unnecessary. The risk of CoVID-19 in children is so low (see, “Masks are Unnecessary” above) that any imagined benefits cannot possibly outweigh the risks. Based on CDC data, the risk of children between the ages of zero and 19 years of age dying from CoVID-19 is an incredibly low risk of 0.00195%. This rate is much lower than the risk of children dying from influenza.

In fact, there is a large and growing body of physicians, pediatricians, scientists, epidemiologists, and researchers around the world that are speaking out against the anti-scientific public health recommendations that have been forced upon the public and our children.[R] Those of us that have read the science have concluded that it is senseless and dangerous to force children to wear face masks in school:

• See e.g., Michelle Science MD, MSc, FRCPC, et. al., COVID-19: Guidance for School Reopening, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Hospital for Sick Children (“Sick Kids”), University of Toronto, Canada. https://www.sickkids.ca/PDFs/About-SickKids/81407-COVID19-Recommendations-for-School Reopening-SickKids.pdf

  • The use of [Non-Medical Masks (“NMMs”)] in the school setting should be driven by local epidemiology with age-specific considerations.
  • When transmission in the community is low, the use of NMMs throughout the entire school day should not be mandatory for elementary, middle or high school students returning to school.
  • Safe masking practices (e.g. proper wearing/storage/removal) should be reinforced with educational materials provided to parents, students and teachers.
  • Given the current epidemiology, the use of NMMs is not recommended for elementary school students.

• A Covid-19 cross-country study by the University of East Anglia in England found that a mask requirement was of no benefit and could even increase the risk of infection.

  • Hunter, et al., Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID- 9 in Europe: a quasi-experimental study, May 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.01.20088260
  • “We found that closure of education facilities, prohibiting mass gatherings and closure of some non-essential businesses were associated with reduced incidence whereas stay at home orders, closure of all non-businesses and requiring the wearing of face masks or coverings in public was not associated with any independent additional impact.”

Forcing Children to Wear Face Masks for Long Periods Risks Causing Them Physical Injuries.

The topic of the physical harms caused by masks was covered previously, but it is worth repeating a few of the key points:

Wearing a mask for more than a few minutes causes a significant reduction in a person’s blood oxygen level.

• See A. Beder, et al., Preliminary report on surgical mask induced deoxygenation during major surgery, Neurocirugía (2008). http://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/neuro/v19n2/3.pdf
• Transcranial Ultrasound Doppler (TCUD) studies on masked and unmasked individuals demonstrate the changes in blood flow in the brain the result from the arterial CO2 elevation that occurs within seconds of donning a mask.
  
  This video demonstrates the use of TCUD and heart rate variability to measure the adverse effects of masking a healthy nine year old child: https://bit.ly/2GGQWiZ

Wearing masks for extended periods increased incidences of headaches and negatively affected work performance.

• See Jonathan J.Y. Ong, et al., Headaches Associated With Personal Protective Equipment – A Cross‐Sectional Study Among Frontline Healthcare Workers During COVID‐19, Headache, the Journal of Head and Face Pain (May 2020). https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/head.13811

Most children wear cloth masks.

• See Brittany Dionne, How hard is it to find a medical grade face mask?, WBRC News, April 18, 2020. https://www.wbrc.com/2020/04/18/how-hard-is-it-find-medical-grade-face-mask/

But wearing a cloth mask may increase the risk of contracting Covid-19 and other respiratory infections.

• See MacIntyre CR, Seale H, Dung TC, et al., A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers, BMJ Open 2015; 5: e006577, US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006577, April 22, 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/pdf/bmjopen-2014-006577.pdf

  • “This study is the first [Randomly Controlled Trial] of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks.
  • This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection.”

Forcing Children to Wear Face Masks for Long Periods Risks Causing Them Mental and Psychological Injuries

Children are at risk for psychological trauma in multiple ways by being forced to wear face masks all day long at school. Doctors from around the country warn of the dangers to children of wearing face masks all day.

• See e.g., Jeffrey I. Barke, M.D., Open the schools without politics, American Thinker, June 10, 2020. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/06/open_the_schools_without_politics.html

Mandatory face coverings on children is very harmful to the child: learning is inhibited; critical interactions among students and between student and teacher are fractured; and the face covering is counterproductive, as kids will naturally touch their faces, thereby contaminating their covering. This new normal that many are advocating may well lead to a spike in childhood behavior problems such as learning disabilities, anxiety disorders, and depression, to name a few.

• See also Kathleen M. Pike, PhD, Why a Mask is Not Just a Mask, Global Mental Health Programs, Columbia University, April 17, 2020. https://www.cugmhp.org/five-on-friday/why-a-mask-is-not-just-a-mask

Many young children burst into tears or recoil when someone wearing a mask approaches. It’s so common that some elementary schools prohibit masks at the school Halloween parade. One reason for this is that the development of facial recognition is relatively weak in young children. According to University of Toronto psychologist, Dr. Kang Lee, it is not until kids are about 14 years old that they reach adult skill levels in recognizing faces. Before then, kids tend to see individual facial features, rather than recognizing the person as a whole. By putting on masks, we take away information that makes it especially difficult for children to recognize others and read emotional signals, which is unsettling and disconcerting. These issues may be especially true for children with autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger’s syndrome, who tend to have particular difficulties reading non-verbal cues.

Dr. Alice Kuo, President of the Southern California chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement criticizing Los Angeles County school reopening guidelines that require children wear masks as “not realistic or even developmentally appropriate for children.” She explained that, “wearing masks throughout the day can hinder language and socio-emotional development, particularly for younger children.”

• Local Pediatricians Urge Collaborative Decision-Making About Reopening Schools, Southern California chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, June 2, 2020. http://aapca2.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AAP-CA2-press-release-on-schools-re-opening 6-2-20-Rev.pdf

Some of the serious psychological harms to children caused by extended mask wearing are tied to lack of facial and emotional recognition.

• See Christiane Bormann-Kischkel, Face Recognition in Children, Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci (1986) 236: 17-20. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00641052

The use of salient visual speech cues is hidden by masks making learning difficult for young children.

• Kaylah Lalondea and Rachael Frush Holta, Preschoolers Benefit From Visually Salient Speech Cues, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Vol. 58, 135–150, February 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712850/pdf/JSLHR-58-135.pdf
• see also Martin Wegrzyn , et al., Mapping the emotional face. How individual face parts contribute to successful emotion recognition, PLoS ONE 12(5): e0177239, May 11, 2017. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177239
• Lawrence Brancazio et al., Use of visual information in speech perception: Evidence for a visual rate effect both with and without a McGurk effect, Perception & Psychophysics 2005, 67 (5), 759-769. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16334050/
• Mustapha Skhiri, Visual Cues in Speech Perception, Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, GSLT, LiTH 20001/3/02. http://www.speech.kth.se/~rolf/gslt_papers/MustaphaSkiri.pdf

Voices of teachers and other students muffled through face masks makes learning more difficult, especially for any child with a diagnosed or undiagnosed hearing impairment.

• See Amanda B. Silberer, PhD, et al., Importance of High Frequency Audibility on Speech Recognition With and Without Visual Cues in Listeners with Normal Hearing, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders The University of Iowa, March 2014. https://haar.lab.uiowa.edu/sites/haar.lab.uiowa.edu/files/wysiwyg_uploads/silberer_bentler_wu_aas _2014.pdf

The Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) has made clear that “Schools are an important part of the infrastructure of communities and play a critical role in supporting the whole child, not just their academic achievement.”

• See Preparing K-12 School Administrators for a Safe Return to School in Fall 2020. Guidance from the CDC to school Districts. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/prepare-safe return.html
• Nowhere in the guidance provided to local schools by the CDC is any information about compelling students to wear face masks. In fact, the CDC acknowledges that “[m]ore research and evaluation is needed on the implementation of mitigation strategies (e.g., social distancing, masks, hand hygiene, and use of cohorting) used in schools to determine which strategies are the most effective.” Id. at 5.

The lack of any such recommendation is understandable given that the great weight of scientific evidence shows unmistakably that wearing face masks for extended periods is harmful to people’s health, safety and emotional well-being, especially to young children.

◄SOURCE ARTICLE►